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Ye Zichen licked his slips, then took a few steps forward.

Retreat was inevitable, but first, he had to stall Gu Li and Black Dragon.

Whoosh.

He flapped his wings and shot up into the air.

Black Dragon and Gu Li simply stood there, as if waiting for his return.

Then Gu Li's gaze fell onto Ye Zichen's broken right arm. It was all twisted up and hung limply to the side.

"Emperor Ye, you're wounded?" he laughed confidently.

"Aren't you jealous of my self-healing abilities now?" jeered Gu Li. "With our current physical strength, a broken arm takes at least three to five days to heal. You struggled to keep up with us even before your injury, so…. Are you going to try and run away now?"

Ye Zichen's fingers trembled. Seeing this, a smile tugged at Gu Li's lips. "It seems I got it right. That said, perhaps I phrased it somewhat poorly. How could someone like Emperor Ye simply 'run away?' What you're going now is called a 'tactical retreat,' isn't it? You're just thinking of the bigger picture?"

Ye Zichen was silent for a while. Suddenly, he spoke. "Do you remember what I told you once, a long time ago?"

"What was it?" laughed Gu Li.

"You talk too much," said Ye Zichen, his expressionless face twisting into a contemptuous smirk. "That mouth of yours is going to get you killed."

"Hah…." Gu Li froze, but he rapidly recovered his usual playful grin.

He talked too much? It was going to get him killed?

It's true that he loved mocking his opponents as they fell into despair. It's true that he loved giving his enemies hope, only to take it away at the last minute.

Maybe these really were bad habits, but he liked it that way.

"But I haven't died yet."

To the side, Black Dragon glanced at him. To tell the truth, he was sick of Gu Li's behavior. When he faced death, he was a flighty, panicky coward. When he was at an advantage, he grew conceited and arrogant. Black Dragon truly didn't understand how someone like this had managed to live this long.

Ye Zichen ignored Gu Li's response. He simply laughed coolly, "just bear my words in mind."

"Oh, Emperor Ye, do you still have something up your sleeves? Ooh, how scary! But Emperor Ye, your arm's broken. What can you do to me?"

Ye Zichen couldn't be bothered to respond. He simply rolled his eyes, then reached out with his spiritual awareness.

"City Lord Luo."

Luo Wei was busy treating injured Beast Region experts when he received Ye Zichen's transmission. He subconsciously glanced in Ye ZIchen's direction, only to hear, "Don't look at me."

Getting this sort of response sent shivers down Luo Wei's spine. "Emperor Ye, what's going on? Just now, I saw…. You're not injured, are you?"

"Don't worry about me," said Ye Zichen. "I can handle this myself. How are things on your end?"

"It doesn't look good," replied Luo Wei, looking over the crowd of wounded soldiers. Even those still fighting had suffered numerous minor injuries. "The demons and zombies are simply too strong. We prepared as best we could, but we nevertheless underestimated them. Also, we only planned for demons. We had no time to prepare to face the zombie horde."

Luo Wei hadn't mentioned their serious injuries, but even so, it was clear that they couldn't hold on much longer.

"Call all of our troops back. In a bit, I'll make an opening to the northwest. Escape through there."

"Understood." Luo Wei didn't waste time on excess words. This was a crisis; each second was precious. Emperor Ye had decided to retreat. There was no need to know why. He simply had to carry out his orders.

"Emperor Ye, have you given the command?"

Suddenly, Gu Li, chatty as ever, spoke up once more. "Let's see…. Where will your soldiers retreat to? The Valley of Death lies to the east. If they go there, they'll face certain death. My armies' main war camp is to the south - going there will only benefit me. The demons are concentrated in the west. It's most likely impossible to flee directly north. They must be headed northwest!"

He…. He saw through them!

Ye Zichen was inwardly shocked, but his expression remained the same. He simply smiled calmly and shrugged. "Who knows?"

The instant he finished his sentence, tens of thousands of swords formed of pure light manifested behind him, then shot northwest.

"Now!"

Luo Wei had been waiting for Ye Zichen's signal. Seeing the tens of thousands of illusory swords, he turned to his troops and called out, "That's the signal! Retreat!"

The warriors dashed northwest. The demons elites tried to stop them, but Ye Zichen's ten thousand illusory swords soon wiped them all out.

They ran without any interference, but this was short-lived…...

Just as Ye Zichen said, all he could do was create an opening. Before long, other demons would arrive, filling in the gap. Ultimately, Luo Wei and the others would have to rely on themselves if they wanted to breakthrough.

The instant Ye Zichen's swords landed, a smile flashed across Gu Li's face. "As expected."

"Hmph," snorted Ye Zichen coldly. "So what if you figured it out?" His vast aura radiated outward as he fixed his gaze on Gu Li and Black Dragon.

"With me here, don't even think about leaving. Especially you, Black Dragon. Don't blame me for killing so many of your demons."

To his surprise…..

At first, he assumed Black Dragon would react furiously. Now, looking at his face, Ye Zichen saw no hints of emotion whatsoever. Gu Li, meanwhile, crossed his arms and wore his usual playful grin. He seemed completely fearless.

Ye Zichen looked northwest.

It was completely undefended.

After his swords killed the guards, no one came to take their place.

Could it be that they planned to simply allow Luo Wei and the others to retreat?

No way! That was impossible!

There

It seemed too good to be true. There had to be…...

A trap!

"Emperor Ye, oh, Emperor Ye, I truly don't know what you were thinking. Didn't I tell you earlier? I already knew you would escape to the northwest. Given that, did it truly never occur to you that I'd plan a 'surprise' for you?"

Arms crossed, Gu Li sighed and shook his head. "I really ought to thank you. You sent them all northwest. Now, I can kill them all in one fell swoop. It's hard to say how much they'll hate you. It's you, you're the one who pushed them into the endless abyss!"

"What?" Ye Zichen's expression shook. Suddenly, a horde of shapeless, twisted zombies appeared in the unguarded northwest, led by none other than the four Zombie Progenitors and the Zhao Brothers, command medallion in hand.

"Get it? I had an ambush prepared in the northwest right from the start… since before all this even started."